HONG KONG: Wife Cakes (AKA Sweetheart Cakes) from Yuen Long

Long ago in feudal China, a poor peasant couple lived with their old parents in a small village. One day, a mysterious disease struck the village. The husband's father became very ill. To raise money for the treatment, the wife sold herself to slavery. She became a maid in a wealthy family... don't think crooked.

To redeem his wife, the poor farmer made a cake filled with winter-melon and sold them. His cakes were so yummy that they became popular and he was able to make enough money to buy back his wife.

With his wife back by his side, the couple worked hard at their business. Soon their story and cakes spread far and wide.

Many years later, some baker came out with a Husband Cake. It's just to complement the Wife Cake, there's no significant story behind it. Unlike the sweet Wife Cake, Husband Cake is savoury in taste.

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For the first time, I got to try the infamous Wife Cakes from Yuen Long. According to a few local friends in Hong Kong, been told that Yuen Long was most well-known for their Wife cakes at a bakery called Hang Heung Bakery.

I didn't go there myself, rather had some colleagues bring them back while they were still warm. Wife cakes are puff pastry desserts filled with Winter melon and almond paste. The outside is a layered with thin layers of puff making the texture crispy while the inside is filled with a chewy warm paste that surprisingly doesn't cling on to your teeth (Don't you hate it when that happens?). I'm not sure what Winter melons are supposed to taste like but I did enjoy the aroma of almonds. I like the fact that the whole dessert wasn't too sweet, it was perfect. The puff pastry had its own character and flavour, the aroma smelled like cakes right out of the oven, made with butter I believe and that's always a luxury in itself.

Despite the drive out to Yuen Long, this would make an excellent winter dessert.

[Source: Wikipedia]